When The Sun Goes Down
by grei-eba
Summary: Everybody's expecting to have the time of their lives when a group of friends decides to go out for their first holidays without parents. But things suddenly change completely and all of them have to face their biggest threat ever.
1. Holidays

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**Katie's POV**

I was tired of doing nothing. I'd been staring out the window for the past six hours and I could no longer feel my butt. Trees sorrounded us, I can not understand how on Earth there's a beach near here. Luke'd better not be taking us in the wrong way or I'll kil him if he ruins our first holidays ever without parents. He's my cousin and he knows as well as I do how much this means to me cause it also means the same to him; first time ever of pure and true freedom. And with friends! We were just so incredibly lucky Harry's parents had decided to go to Spain for the holidays instead of using their house by the beach and now it was all free for ourselves, though there wasn't enough room for all of us -there was 9 of us, the house only had space for 4 people- so some of us would have to sleep in tents. Anyway, despite that little detail, these were going to be the coolest holidays ever! But I needed to arrive now or I would never feel my butt again.

"Houston, we've got a problem" Luke muttured as he slowed down and parked the car in the side of the road.

I looked away from the window and turned my head around in his direction.

"We've arrived?" Jazzie muttered as she raised her head from Dougie's shoulder, her face all sleepy.

"No, not at all" Luke said.

"Then why did you stop?" I asked as I turned off my Ipod.

"Don't you tell me you've got to pee again, dude. I've never seen someone pee so much" Dougie said. I fought back laughter.

Luke rolled his eyes, embarrased "No, I don't have to pee! We're out of gasoline"

Tom's black car passed by, Frances curiously looking at us through the window. Tom's car stopped just a few meters away. They've been following us, of course, as we all travelled together.

"Don't worry, there are two cans of gasoline in Tom's car" I told him.

"Ok, I'll be right back" Luke said and stepped out the car. I opened my door and stretched my legs. God, that felt so good. Dougie did the same thing and smiled at me. Jeez, he's looking gorgeous with his blond hair, those pretty blue eyes, his awesome clothes and the way he smiles... He could kill me by just smiling at me.

Tom, Danny and Mike got out the car and started calling toward our car while Harry and Frances just leaned against the car, stretching their legs like we were.

"Hey, any problem with the car, dude?" Mike asked, still a few meters away.

"Yeah, we ran out of gasoline. Kate says you've got more in the car..." Luke said, then took a deep breath and looked up at the sky, soaking all the sun light and fresh air he could. It was a beautiful day. I could already imagine how lovely the water had to feel in the sea. Oh, my, I wanted to get there so badly! And I would get to see Dougie without his shirt every single day...

"Sure. Danny, you packed it, you know where it is. Just bring one can, it'd be enough I think" Tom said, looking up at the sky too.

Danny's face went white.

That, from the begining, gave me a bad feeling.

"Danny? Did you hear me?" Tom said, looking down at him.

"Yeah... About that..." Danny almost chocked.

"What?"

He didn't answer.

"You_ did_ pack the cans of gasoline, _didn't _you?" Mike asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"I thought Harry was doing it!" Danny said, leaning away from the guys like they would punch him.

"Oh, dammit, Danny!" Luke yelled at him.

"Harry" Tom called him calmly. Trust Tom to be calm even if Lucifer raises from hell and the apocalypse were to be announced "Did you by any chance pack the cans of gasoline?" All of us turned our heard towards him, expecting him to say yes.

"No, I thought Mike was going to do it" he said, confused.

Everybody turned to stare at Mike.

"Hey, don't look at me, I thought_ Danny_ was supposed to do it!"

"Dammit, guys!" Luke yelled angrily.

"Relax, people" Frances said as she came to stand next to Mike and took her super-fancy cell phone out of her pocket. She had to have the best cell phone on the whole Earth "This is why God invented cell phones"

"Actually Dr. Martin Cooper invented the first mobile phone" Tom said.

Fran shot him an annoyed look "Don't start the I-know-it-all crap, Tom. It's early"

"Easy, baby" Mike muttered to her girlfriend.

She dialed 911 and waited, then gasped.

"I don't have a signal!" she said horrified "How could I not have signal!"

We all looked at each other.

"So we're stuck here?" Jazzie said.

"We still have Tom's car" Mike said.

"I don't have enough gasoline for the whole journey, I didn't fill the tank, I was counting on the cans of gasoline" he muttered.

Dougie put an arm around his horrified sister.

"Hey, it's going to be ok" he muttered to her, then turned to the rest of us "One of you guys can go on with Tom's car and see if you can get help and that will be it. There's no reason to freak out, right?"

"Sure" I said and he smiled at me. Even if he says 2 + 2 equals 5, I'm always going to support him.

"Well, who wants to go?" Mike said.

"I'll go" Dougie said.

"I'll join you"


	2. Useless

"Remember Tom said we probably have like an hour and a half until his car runs out of gasoline too" I said quietly after around fourty minutes of silence.

"I know" Dougie said softly.

"There must be a town _somewhere_" Danny mumbled.

"I feel like we're in the middle of nowhere" I said "The woods seem endless"

"It's kind of creepy, isn't it?" Dougie said, half-smiling to Danny.

"Maybe we'll see a ghost" Danny smiled too "It sound likely"

I slapped them both in the back of their heads and they laughed.

"You guys are so mean! You know I'm afraid of ghosts!" I yelled at them.

"You can't hit the driver!" Dougie complained with fake seriousness, still laughing.

"Well, I just did!"

"Hey, guys" Danny suddenly said, pointing to something "Look, over there"

I glanced at whatever he was looking at and it took me a minute to find the small cabin. It was next to the tress, in the edge where the forest begun. It was tiny. There was an old, dirty truck parked just meters away from there. Plants were growing on the sides of the cabin, the windows were shut and there was a dog outside sleeping, a rather big pitbull.

Dougie parked the car on the side of the road and the guys got out. I hesitated; pitbulls are known for being very agressive.

"Aren't you coming?" Dougie asked.

"Hum... I rather wait here" I said.

"Really? With all the ghosts?" Danny said and the two of them burst out laughing when I got out of the car in a hurry. I slapped them both again.

"Will you two ever stop that?" I complained.

"No" they both said at the same time, looked at each other and laughed again. I just rolled my eyes, trying not to let them see how much I loved hearing Dougie laugh.

We walked in silence towards the cabin and, when we were just a few meters away, the small but fierce white dog woke up and started barking to the top of its lungs. Thank God he was tied up to a tree.

"I'm not getting any closer to that dog" I said as I stopped.

"I agree" Danny said.

Dougie just rolled his eyes. Yeah, I know he loves animals but, honestly, that dog freaked me out.

"Hello!" he shouted "Is anybody... hum... home?"

We waited. The dog's barking was starting to piss me off, too much noise for such a small animal!

About five minutes later, a man around 45 years old came out. He had bear and dark hair, and he was wearing whats seemed to be a cup's uniform. For some reason, that didn't relax me. On the contrary, he made me even more nervous.

"Shup up, Roxie" he ordered the dog, which inmediately shut up. Thank God! The man examined us for a moment. I just didn't like the way he was staring at us "Come on in, kids"

He turned around and walked in again, leaving the door opened for us and I doubfully followed the boys in; I don't trust people with pitbulls either.

I felt out of place with my tight, short jeans and my sleeveless white shirt (all clothes suitable for a beach) in that dirty, old room. There was a creepy head for a deer in the wall, I couldn't help feeling it was staring at me the whole freaking time, then a desk, one small chair, a gunshot against the wall and a small wardrobe. There was just one picture in the whole room, right next to the wardrobe. There were two men on it, one of them was the one standing in front of us.

The policeman sat behind the desk and locked his eyes on mine. I felt uncomfortable and looked away.

"What can I do for you?" he said in a deep voice.

"Well," Danny said "our friend's car ran out of gasoline and ours has just a few left, so we're kind of stuck here. Maybe you can sell us some gasoline?"

"I'm afraid I don't have any" he said.

"But you've got a truck outside" I said as I looked up again. Told you, don't trust someone with a pitbull.

"It's old" he simply said "I haven't used it in years"

"Can't you call someone for help?" Dougie said, his tone not friendly at all. Seems like I'm not the only one who dislikes this guy.

"I don't have a phone"

Danny sighed, a bit annoyed.

"Ok, then" he said "Thanks for your time"

"Wait" the man said, his eyes on me again, an unpleasent smile on his face "Why don't you stay for a while? I could use some company"

Thought I wasn't exactly sure he was talking to us or just _me_, his meaningfull words made me shivered and Dougie took my hand almost unconsciously and immediately. So it wasn't just me who noticed the disgusting double meaning, huh?...

"Sorry" he practicly yelled at him "but our friends are waiting for us. Goodbye"

"See you around" the policeman said.

I was the first one to get out, Dougie almost pushing me out the door. I fought the urge to run to the car. Once we were inside, Dougie locked all the doors and started the engine quickly.

"Did you see the way he was looking at Katie?" Danny said, upset and surprised.

Dougie kept his eyes fixed on the road, anger in his face.

"Yes, it was digusting..." he muttered through his teeth "Freanking perverd..."

"And he wasn't usefull _at all_!" Dan complained.

"He had to be lying" I said "He must have a house or something somewhere else, there's no way he could live there, it's obviously impossible. And I don't believe he's out of gasoline either"

"I give a fuck if he's lying" Dougie yelled "We don't need or want his help"

Wow, I'd never seen him like this, why was he so extremely angry? Not even Danny's that upset.

I turned around to look at Dan, who looked just as confused as me.

Dougie drove faster and we found the others again in half an hour. Harry was laying in the grass between Luke and Jazzie -Dougie probably asked him to keep an eye on her since Jazz obviously fancies my cousin and he's known for being a lady's man-, while Tom, Fran and Mike were on the other car, listening to Muse. They all rushed toward us and waited for the good news we didn't have.

"So?" Frances asked impatiently "Did you find anybody?"

"The most useless policeman ever. If he really was a policeman" Dougie spoke through his teeth again.

"You found a policeman?" Tom said as he smiled. Harry was looking at Dougie with confussion, obviously realizing there was something weird with his behaviour too.

"Dont get too excited" I said with frustration "He ain't gonna help us"

"He looked at Katie in such a perverd way!" Danny said.

"A total douche" Dougie mumbled.

"So we're stuck here?" Jazzie looked just as horrified as Fran.

"Relax" Dougie said as he put an arm around his sister' shoulder, though _he_ didnt look so calm himself "A car will eventually pass by and stop. We'll ask them to help us, I don't think people will just ignore us, Jazz"

"Yes, he's absolutely right" Tom agreed "We'll just stay in the side of the road and make signs of help when somebody gets close"

"Good idea, I'll stay here with you" Luke said, and him and Tom went back to the car.

"And what the hell are we supposed to do meanwhile!" Frances said.

"Fanny, love, don't freak out" Mike said as he pulled her into his chest "We can play in the woods for a little while" he smiled at her and most of us rolled our eyes. Jeez, how much sex can they have! Aren't they ever gonna stop?

"Michael, dude, get a room" Harry said as he laid in the ground again, over the fresh grass.

"There _is_ none" he said, almost complaning. These two are on fire. At least we get to make fun of their addiction to sex most the time.

I sat in the grass next to Harry and looked away from the creepy trees.

"Well" I sighed "all we've got to do now is wait"


	3. Sunrise

**My parents are gone for the weekend which means I'm stuck here taking care of the house. Not that I mind, now I can listen to Muse so loud my ears will hurt and write in the computer, yes right here about this very right story, without a limit of time. Just every teenage normal's wish; alone at home... I don't appreciate the dirty dishes they left behind though, that doesn't look like fun... haha.**

**Amy, your reviews make me laugh haha Thanks for reading so many of my stories!  
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**Enjoy and review.**

**Thanks for the reviews :)**

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**Dougie's POV**

It got dark pretty soon and no one ever appeared. The girls were about to lose it, though Kate was trying hard not to show it, but I knew her well; she's got nyctophobia, which basiclly means deep fear to the dark. Her phobia is not_ too_ developed, not as serious as it is for other people, but she still hates darkness.

Mike, Danny and Harry picked up some dry branches from the border of the forest as I asked them when I realized Katie had her eyes closed and her hands around her necklace's little pendant that says 'sunrise'. She must have realized we'd have to spent the night here and she mustn't have liked the idea. It's a birthday present I gave her four years ago. That was a bad year for her nyctophobia. 'Sunrise' had a special meaning, coming from a phrase we both knew; '_We can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in the darkness_'. It was to remind her that the lights would never be forever off, darkness had to leave at some point and so she would be free from her fear sooner or later. '_It's the later part I worry about_' she'd said with a nervous smile back then, the day I explained my present to her.

I sat down next to her and put an arm around her. She looked up and smiled. God, she's _so _pretty! The way she looked at me made my stomach feel weid.

"Are you ok?" I asked her.

Mike was starting a little fire with his lighter, this is the first time I'm glad he smokes -though he was going to run out of cigarrettes pretty soon and then he would get really annoying-.

"I'll be ok" she nodded but I could see her concern right there in her eyes. Soon the sun would completely disappear and she would be quite scared.

"We're going to put up the tents" Tom said as he dragged several bags in our way.

"We're spending the night here?" Jazzie asked.

"Seems like we don't have another choice" he said.

Katie sighed and I kissed her cheek softly. It took me a lot of courage to do that, believe me. Her skin was cold but soft.

"Are you cold?" I asked her.

"Just a little bit" she said.

"Can anybody help me with this?" Tom said as he looked at the instructions with a puzzled expression on his face.

"I'll help you" Kate said and stood up, unwillingly releasing her necklace "I need to distract myself"

I followed her with my eyes, admiring her figure. She was already becoming a woman, such a pretty woman. I like her so much. We've been friends for years, around six now I think; Danny's her neighbour and they used to go to the same school, though not the same classes as Dan is older than her, she's kind of my age, just a year older. Danny introduced her to us just a little after we met him, they are really close friends, and she became really close to us too. But last summer I'd realized my feelings for her were changing, our friendship was turning into something else, at least for me. I didn't dare telling her how I felt, I wasn't going to be dumb enough to screw up our friendship and, if I told her and she rejected me, thing would get awkward in our group of friends too.

"Could you be _any_ more obvious?" Logan said as he sat between Jazz and me.

"Shut up" I said and rolled my eyes.

"Are you _ever_ going to tell her, dude?" he asked.

"She'd be a great sister in law" Jazzie said "I've always wanted a sister"

"I've got nothing to tell her" I lied.

"Except that you love her" Logan said, making the 'o' longer as he smiled.

"I dont" I insisted.

"We all know, Dougie" Jazzie said "Quit the crap, bro"

I sighed, a bit annoyed. I knew Tom and Harry knew, both of them were too perceptive and knew me too well, but I had no clue that the rest of them knew too! I didn't want things to become awkward, thing were way too cool between all of us.

"Do you think she knows?" I asked in a whispered as I watched her struggling with a tent.

"She's got no clue, she's just as dumb as you" Logan said, apparently finding the whole thing a bit funny.

"Don't call her dumb"

"I don't _mean_ it"

"What do you mean she's as dumb as me anyway?"

Jazzie half-smiled "I _told_ you he doesn't know!" she told Logan.

"Know what?" I asked.

"She's crazy about you too" she explained.

I looked at Kate; she was laughing with Danny, who was rubbing his head with his hand. He must have hit it against something, he always does, he's going to run out of braincells some day.

Danny's been my friend for a long time now and I very well know he's a magnet for women; they are all just crazy about him. I know he'd never steal a girl from me though, but it's not like we ever talked about her either, he could be with her if he wanted... And it's not like any girl has ever rejected him. I just hope he doesn't _like_ her like the way I do. Everyone adores her. God, if they get together... I'd die. Well, probably not, but you get it...

"Doesn't seem like she is" I sighed "She's kind of too close to Danny, dont you think?"

"Dont be ridiculous" Logan said "They've been friends forever and that's all they are ever going to be. He's not her type anyway, you can tell."

"How do you know?"

"Cause _you're _her type" he grinned.

I rolled my eyes but I had a lot to think about after what Jazz and Logan had told me. I was looking at Katie in a different way, trying to find any sign that showed she really liked me. It'd be amazing if she did, we would be so good together, I_ know_ we would!

We had a lot of food, luckyly, but as long as we didn't know how long we would be here, Mike said it'd be better if we didn't eat a lot and saved most the food. So all we had for dinner were snacks. I'm not going to complain, snacks are fine by me, but Frances spent all dinner bitching about it. She's just too used to be her rich dad's princess. You can't really blame her, it's her parent's fault, and she's a good girl deep down, when you _really_ get to know her. To be honest, it took me a while to be able to stand her, but we all made the effort for Mike, a very good friend of ours.

The boys had managed to start quite a big fire, but all around us was still dark. Katie had her hand around her pendant again and hadn't eaten at all. I was kind of sorry now for joking about ghost earlier in the car, I hadn't thought we would have to spend the night here after all.

Soon the girls went to sleep to one tent together, while Tom and Danny sat in the car by the side of the road with flashlights, waiting for signs of civilization, and Logan and Mike went to the other tent. Fran insisted on sleeping with her boyfriend, but there was no way we were going to let those two sleep together... Yeah, like any of us believe they were going to sleep at all...

Harry and I laid on the ground next to the fire and soon he started snoring. I couldn't sleep, I had way too many things in my mind and the ground was cold and uneven. I wasn't afraid of the dark, it's just nature, but I was gratefull for the big fire anyway.

Around midnight, I head a frustrated sight coming from the girls' tent and only seconds later, Katie came out, doubting her every move. I met her eyes and was thankfull for a moment that my bed for the night was this crappy ground that couldn't let me sleep.

"Hey. Are you alright?" I asked her as I stood up.

"Hum... I just..." she looked around us, into nothingness, into the deep darkness. Her lower lip trembled for a moment, then she quickly looked away, her eyes meeting mine again and she came to stand next to me fastly "I can't sleep in this place. I just _can't_"

"It's ok" I said and put my arms around her. She rested her head on my shoulder and sighed "Why don't we sit by the fire? You're cold again"

She nodded. We sat on the ground and I grabbed the blanket Tom had given me to sleep and put it around both of us, then put an arm around her shoulders too. Oh, jeez, I loved being this close to her, it was awesome. My face was just inches away from her, I could lean down and kiss her so easily... But she looked so scared, I couldn't think of something like that while I witness her suffering. She leaned her head on my shoulder again and hid her face on my neck. Her breath against my neck felt way too awesome and I had to control my mind for a moment. Well, what do you expect? I'm a dude, I can't always control myself! At least I _try_.

"I'm here, Katie, ok?" I whispered in her ear as I played with her hair "It's alright, nothing can harm you."

"But I just-" she stopped and sighed again.

"I know, I understand..."

"Please don't leave me, don't fall asleep. I know it's a selfish thing to ask, you must be tired, but I can't handle this alone..."

"I promise I wont fall asleep" and how could I anyway, when her lips were almost against my neck? "I'll stay with you"

"Really?" she looked up, tears of fear in her eyes. It broke my heart.

"Of course"

She half-smiled, then grabbed my cheek and leaned forwards. I stood still, eyes wide opened in surprised... Then she kissed my cheek. Fuck, I thought she was going to kiss me. Damn, _I_ should have kissed her, it was the perfect time!

"Thank you" she whispered in my head then rested her head on my shoulder again. Then she took her pendant in her hands again.

"You're- You're welcome" I said, still a bit stunned "I'll be right here with you."

"I wish I wasn't like this, it makes me feel so stupid"

"You're not stupid, Katie, you're just scared, there's nothing wrong with that. Just remember, there was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope."


	4. Tonight

**Sorry for the short delay, I've been a bit busy. I went to see Paul McCartney's concert last night (in Argentina) and, OH MY GOD, it was the best show I've ever been to!**

**Next week is going to be hell for me; I've got four killing exams and I HAVE to do PERFECT on them. Failing is not a possibility. So I may not be around a lot until I'm done with all that crap, but I'll do my best to update :)  
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**Thanks for all the amazing reviews :)**

**Enjoy and review.**

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Mike and Luke changed places with Tom and Danny around five a.m. and stayed in the car to see if someone else drove by, though this seemed to be the emptiest road ever.

Danny stared at us for a moment when he was walking towards his tent, then knelt down next to Katie. He put ahand on the cheek and spoke softly, something kind of unsual on him, but he was usually sweeter with her than with anybody else.

"Kate, ¿are you alright, darling?" he asked her. I felt ouf of place, though he was the intruder in my moment of glory with her... But I couldn't be this selfish and feel jealous right now, he was good for her and I just wanted Katie to feel better.

"The sun should rise soon" she said, avoiding Dan's question. She hadn't closed her eyes for hours, kind of as if she didn't even want to blink her eyes. Well, I kind of understood why she was so utterly afraid, I would of been scared too if I hadn't had the person I was falling for sitting next to me; a thick fog covered the ground and you could see nothing at all beyond the tall, old trees, weird sounds that didn't stop in the whole night made you feel like you were losing your mind and time just seemed to stop when all you wanted was to feel the sunlight on your skin again. The place was just so creepy, it was the last place where Katie should be spending the night.

"It always does" he told her and smile. She didn't smile back at him "Doug, I can stay with her now if you want to take some rest"

"No!" I said a bit too desperate "I don't mind, I like it. Well, I dont _like_ it, I just-" I sighed "You go and sleep"

He smiled and I think I blushed; what? What was so funny?

"Good night then" he said.

Katie moves closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder again. I liked it, she was kind of warm now.

Since the very moment the sun started to rise, the difference was almost tangible; Katie's body relaxed, leaving its tense position, and soon she started breathing evenly and softly. She'd finally fallen asleep. The foggy field seemed a bit creepier and now that everyone was sleeping, it did kind of start to bother me. Luckyly, Jazz and Frances woke up around an hour later, so I took Katie on my arms very carefully and layed her down inside the tent. I layed down next to her and soon I was dreaming.

**Katie's POV**

I opened my eyes and saw Dougie snoring next to me in the tent. Had he carried me inside? Oh, fuck, what if he thinks I weigh a lot? Shit.

His eyelids moved, he had to be draeming. I couldn't help smiling; God, he looks just perfect! Did he know how beautiful he was? Did he know how much I liked him? How _couldn't_ I like him when he was so sweet with me? He never made fun of my stupid phobia and he's always tried to help me when it really gets to me. Not to mention he's funny and there's something about him being a bit silly that makes me want him even more.

I stood up and walked away from the tent. Jazzie was laying on the ground some meters away from where I was, Luky sitting by her side. I raced an eyebrow; oh, God, he's like the new Alfie. My cousin loves women way too much, he'd better not mess around with Jazzie, she's not just _any_ girl. I knew Dougie was afraid he'd do exactly _that_.

The rest of my friends were in the car listening to The Beatles. Frances was sitting in the ground against the car, wearing a constant frown. Oh, poor her, she's not used to places like this, I understand her, so this time I ain't gonna piss her off. Danny came running to me when he saw me and I just waved a hand at him awkwardly. God, he's going to ask me about last night, I know he is, and I don't want to talk about it...

"Hey..." he said as he put his hands on his pockets "Did you get some rest?"

"Yeah... What time is it?"

"Around three" he said.

I sighed... Well, I'm five hours away from sunset... I swallowed.

"Are you alright?" he said.

"That's a question without an interesting answer, don't you think?" I said and sighed.

Jesus, I wanna go home. I wanna go home _today_. This was a bad idea, we were obviously not prepare to be responsable for our own lifes... I hate when mum's right. Why does she_ always_ have to be right!

"And, eer... How did you sleep?"

I looked at him. He bit his lip as he tried not to smile. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, that's why you are all far from the tent?" I said as I blushed. God, how embarrasing! Do they _all_ know I like him? Does Dougie know?

"We didn't want to interrupt anything!" he giggled "So...?"

"So what?" I said annoyed, though all I was, was actually embarrased.

"Did something happened?"

"No, of course not!" I said and pushed him away from the tent. For God's sake, what if Doug woke up and listened to this! My life, our friendship, would be ruined! "And shut up, he may listen to you!"

"Maybe that'll help, the two of you are making me nervous. I mean, how stupid can you be?"

I slapped the back of his head.

"Hey!"

"Oh, you know I know you know you're smarter than me, I didn't mean it like that" he giggled again, then his expression was puzzled "Wait, that was confusing..."

I had to laugh. He smiled when I did. Danny always worries about me, he's like the big brother I never had. He put his arms around me and kissed my forehead.

"I know he could be good for you" he said in a lower voice.

"I know that too" I said. Dougie's... Special... No one ever gave me so much peace or at least stopped me from freaking out many times. I sed to have panic attacks, but they've kind of stopped... 'Cause he's around to hold my hand...

"Then tell him"

"I ain't going to tell him"

He sighed.

"Eer, hi, Danny" Dougie said. He looked at us for a moment, then blushed "Eer, sorry" he said and turned away.

I looked at him. Shit! No, no, shit!

Danny rolled his eyes.

"_Great_" he said slightly annoyed "See?_ This _is exactly why you should tell him. He's convinced you like _me_"

I sighed. My heart started beating inside my chest.

"You really think I should tell me him?" I asked. He looked down at me, a bit surprised.

"Are you actually finally listening to me?" he said.

"Well... Maybe" I bit my lip. He smiled from ear to ear.

"Yes, I absolutely think you should tell him."

I took a deep breath.

"Alright then"

He looked at me surprised again.

"Really?"

I nodded.

"Tonight. I'll do it tonight. I need something to distract me"

He caressed my back, feeling sorry for me. I feel sorry for myself... Five hours away from sunset... How little daylight lasts!

"This is going to make the trip a lot more fun" Danny said.


	5. Joke

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**Katie's POV**

"I need to pee" Frances said. We all looked up at her.

"I love you," Mike said "but that's just too much information, babe"

She rolled her eyes and maybe blushed, I couldn't tell, it was too dark. The only ones who weren't sitting with us around the fire were Luke and Tom, who were at car, still waiting for someone to show up... Danny was on my left and Dougie on my right, shyly looking the other way. Jesus, he must still think he interruped something this afternoon! Stupid strong friendship between Danny and me... Well, not really, I take that back... But it has costed me a lot of dates, so many boys thought we were going out together. We're like _family_, why can't people understand that!

"Seriously!" she insisted.

"Well, choose a spot" Harry said, half-smiling.

"_What?_ I'm not going to do it right here!" she said "Mike, come with me to the trees"

They all laugh, except for me.

"If you wanna have sex just go" Danny said "We are used to it"

Fran rolled her eyes "I'm serious, people!"

Mike sighed "Alright, come on" he stood up.

"Don't go into the trees, alright?" Harry said "It's late"

I imagined the situation and trembled, feeling terribly uncomfortable. It was bad enough that I was already scared, the sun had already set, I didn't need the frightening images. The stupid fog covered the ground again, making the place look just perfect for a horror movie.

"If they are not back in five minutes, I'll go get them" Danny said and moved his head from side to side.

I put my arms around my knees and rest my chin on top of them. Dougie turned his head a little bit and looked at me from the corner of his eyes. I was waiting for Danny to go away so Doug would feel more comfortable and maybe he'd put his arms around me like he usually did when I was scared.

"So..." he said, then cleared his throat a little bit "Are you hungry?"

Oh, the food. The food's killing me. I've never like junk food, so living on it was a nightmare for me too. Cookies. I ate a couple of cookies for dinner! I want _real_ food! I want potatoes, cheese, meat, spagetti. _Food_!

"I'm fine" I said, but the tone of my voice made if sound like a complain.

I looked at him; God, I wish I could concentrate a little bit more on him and a little bit less in the fact that there were no lights around me, except for the one the fire provided. I wanted to reach out and take his hand...

But then we heard it. A piercing scream that seemed to come from all around us. It was Frances, I recognized her scream.

Jazzie jumped up set sit and the boys turned their head towards the trees. Tom and Luke came running towards us inmediately.

"What happened, what was that!" Tom said in the most serious voice he'd ever spoken with.

"I think it was Frances" Danny said as he stood up.

"Kate?" Dougie said as he stood up and knelt down in front of me with a quick movement "Katie, are you alright?"

I didn't even look at him, I couldn't. I could feel a tear running down my cheek, I could feel my heart beating like a drum against my chest, beating so fast it was uncomfortable, a horrible warm feeling ran down my body. Fear. Deep fear. I started to feel the discomfort my lack of beathing brought.

"Kate, _breath_" Dougie said as he put his hands of my cheek "Hey, are you listening to me?"

The boys looked down at us, Dougie looked up at Danny desperately, asking him without words to help him.

"You go find the others" Danny told the boys.

Jazzie moved forwards to follow the boys and Dougie followed her movement with his body almost unconsciously.

"You stay here, Jazzie!" he yelled nervously at her.

"Grab something, like a knife or something, and let's go!" Luke said.

Oh my God. What the fuck was that? Why did she scream like that? Frances is not the type of girl who scared over darkness, she's not like me. So why did she scream like that? Oh my God... What if something happened to her? What if she's dead? Are you going to die to!

"Danny, help me out!" Dougie said "I think she's not breathing!"

"Kate! Kaitlynn! Snap out of it, you're freaking me out!" Danny said as he shook my shoulders.

"Please, breath" Dougie said.

And then we heard him laugh, Mike's laugh, as Frances ran towards us, looking really angry.

"What happened?" Harry asked. He hadn't had time to even reach the trees before the lovely couple appeared.

"He jumped from behind a tree, the stupid asshole!" Frances yelled angrily.

"Oh, come on, babe!" he said "I didn't think you'd get _that_ scared!" he laughed.

Dougie stood up, looking just as angry as Fran.

"Do you think that's funny!" he yelled at Mike.

"Hey, mate, chill out, it was just a joke!" Mike said as he stopped laughed.

"A joke?" Dougie repeated "Look at Katie! Do you think_ that's_ a joke! You've caused her a panic attack, you moron!"

Mike ran his fingers through his hair, looking sorry. "Jeez, I forgot"

"You _forgot_!"

"Dougie, stop" Danny said softly "You aren't helping her"

I put my hands over my face and stared to cry uncontrollably. I hated being here. I hated every single minute we spent here. I hated people who thought it was funny to scare other people. I hated being scared all the time.

I felt Dougie's arms around me and Danny caressed my hair.

"Babe, it'll be alright" he whispered, his voice full of concert. I wish he didn't have to see me like this, but he has since we were kids, since it stared then I got locked up in the cellar after watching The Exorcist. I will never forget that movie or that night. It terrified me even more to start thinking about all that crap again.

"I'm really sorry, Katie, I forgot, I swear" I heard Mike said.

"Oh, shut up, Mike" his girlfriend said angrily.

"Are you breathing, Katie, love?" Danny asked.

I nodded as I hid my head again Dougie's chest. He pulled me even closer to him and rested his head on mine.

"Is there anything I can do?" Dougie asked, probably to Danny.

"No, just stay like that, she'll stop..." he said.

"Is she going to be ok?" I heard Jazzie asking in a very low voice.

Nobody answered.

"Ok, people..." Tom said, with a voice that made him sound like a leader "I think we should go to bed now... I'll take the first shift"

"I'll go with you" Harry said.

"Come on, Jazz, let's go to bed" Fran said, still sounding terribly upset.

I think Danny and Mike went to sleep too, cause soon all I could hear was the weird sounds this stupid place had and Dougie's breathing. After what seemed a long time, he started to rock me in his arms, moving back and forth slowly, as he also ran his hand up and down my back. Some minutes after that, when I realized I wasn't crying anymore, I wasn't moving at all, just following his soft movements, Doug started to sing a lullaby.

_I promised I would never leave you, and you should always know, where ever you may go, no matter where you are, I never will be far away._

I smiled, I recognized the song; Lullaby Good Night My Angel, by Billy Joel. Dad used to sing it to me.

Dougie had such a pretty voice...

"Are you still breathing?" he asked softly when the song was over.

I smiled a little bit "Yes"

"Good"

"Dougie...? Do you think we'll get out of here?"

"Well, yes, of course. We will have to either walk or wait a little bit more until someone comes"

I nodded. Yeah, he was right... Or so I wanted to believe.

"Will you keep singing, please?" I asked as I closed my eyes again.

"Are you sure? I mean, my voice's going to give you nightmares"

"No... You're perfect. I mean, your voice's perfect" shit.

I think he smiled.

"You're perfect too"


	6. Little Delay

**Hey everyone, sorry for the delay, but I won't be able to update until Friday or Saturday, I'm studying for the last exams of the year [tomorrow's and the day after tomorrow's happen to be the most difficult ones], I'm only two weeks away from summer holidays and I REFUSE to fail any class, I've never been to summer school and I never will!**

**So I'll be back in just a couple of days.**

**Sorry again.**


	7. Midday

**Sorry again for the delay. God, what a fucking crappy week, definitely the most frustrated one in the whole year.**

**Enjoy and review.**

**

* * *

Dougie's POV.**

Once again, when Jazz and Fran woke up, I took Kate on my arms and layed her down next to me on the tent. Five minutes after I layed my head on the ground, I started dreaming. A couple of hours later, I woke up and there she was, breathing evenly, looking beautiful. I didn't know if I should smile or sigh. Yes, she looked peacefull now... But in a couple of hours she'd be like she was last night again. God, I had never seen her like that before, she'd never stopped breathing in front of me before... I was so scared, I didn't know what to do...

... But Danny... He seemed to be an expert, he knew her so well. Too well, I may say.

I sighed... Maybe he's better for her, better than I'll ever be. But I still couldn't help feeling jealousy and envy when I remembered seeing her in Dan's arms. Had I interruped something? I felt so bad when I saw them like that, I wanted to be ok with it, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't. I couldn't stop the human selfishness that told me I should be the one who protects her, even if Danny's better.

I wanted to reach forwards and touch her cheek, caress it. I was tempted. Before I did something stupid, I stood up and left the tent. Harry was laying on the ground, holding a book. He looked at me for a moment.

"Is she still sleeping?" he asked.

"Yeah" I said and ran my fingers through my head. God, I need a bath.

"Good, I thought we'd awoken you a few hours ago" he said.

"What? What do you mean?"

He sighed "Your sister thinks she saw someone staring at us in the trees" he sounded like he didn't believe her "She freaked out about it"

"Where is she now?" I said, a bit nervously, and looked around. She was laying against the car, looking at the trees, her arms around her legs.

"She's in the car with her boyfriend and Danny" Harry smiled, I narrowed my eyes.

Luke. Oh, God, Luke. From all the boys there are, why does she have to like Luke? I mean, I like him, he's a good friend... But he's terrible with women. Actually, he's great with them. What I mean is, he's kind of like Joey, from Friends. He'll like you until he gets you, then the rush of adrenaline is over, he doesn't fancy you anymore. Well... I'll have to kick his ass if he does that to my sister and I don't wanna do that, too much drama.

"Do you think he likes her?" I asked Harry.

"You bet he does, mate" he said as he continued reading his book.

"Then why hasn't he tried to make a move on her?" I said.

"I think he knows you'll kick his ass if he does" Harry said. Oh, so he knew it too. Well, it's a basic rule actually; you don't mess around with your friend's little sisters. Unless you end up marrying her. And this is not the case.

"He's damn right" I said, then sighed "Anyway, don't mention any of what Jazzie said to Kate, I don't think that'd be a good idea"

"You're the boss, mate" Harry said "She's your girlfriend after all" he smiled without looking at me.

"Jesus, Harry!" I said and turned around to check there were no movements inside the tent "Would you shut up?"

He giggled "Oh, come on, dude. Haven't you kissed her yet? You're such a loser"

I'm sure I blushed "I'll be right back"

"Dougie" Mike said, sounding defensive, as he walked towards us with his hands on his pockets "I'm so sorry about last night"

"You shouldn't be apologicing to me" I said, still a bit pissed.

"I know, I'll tell her when she wakes up. How is she anyway?"

"I don't know" I said "It took her a lot of time to fall asleep, more than usual"

He sighed and sat down.

"Do you think she'll forgive me?" he said.

"Of course she will" Harry said without taking his eyes off his book "It's Katie, after all. I don't think you'll have it easy with Frances though. Hasn't she talked to you yet?"

Mike sighed again and rolled his eyes "No, she hasn't. She's really pissed off. I'll have to turn her on so she'll forgive me"

"Dude!" I said, disgusted as the images popped into my head "Stop telling us that stuff"

Harry laughed and I started to walk away towards Jazzie. I sat down her to her and kissed her cheek.

"Sis, what's up? Harry said you saw something..." I said.

She looked at me, fear in her eyes. Jazz looked a bit upset too "He doesn't believe me, does he?"

"Can you blame him?" I said "We're all too nervous, too tired-"

"I can't believe this, you don't believe me either!" she said, angry "Well, Luke believes me, right?"

"Sure I do" he said as he turned around. He was laying in the of the hood car, staring at the road, and he smiled at my sister as he ran his fingers through his hair. Oh, God, I'm gonna be sick "I mean, we can't be the only ones here, don't you think? You said there was a man back there in a cabin too"

I thought about that for a moment. He'd said: "see you around". What had he meant by that? Had he been the one Jazzie saw?

"What was he like? The person you saw?"

"How do you know it was a man?" she said.

"Just tell me" I felt disgust as I remembered the way that man had looked at Katie, I'd hated knowing he wanted her, I'd made me sick. He'd kill the guy if he touched one single lock of her hair... For all we know, he could be a sick pervert. Had he come to spy on Katie?

"Well, he was tall and big, he was wearing a blue shirt and he had short hair-"

"No, that's not him, that's not the policeman we saw"

"Well, I did see something" my sister her and she crossed her arms over her chest "and I give a shit if you believe me or not, I know what I saw"

"Sorry, Jazz, but soon we're going to have to go into the trees" Tom said as he walked towards us, Frances following him "We're running out of food and we don't have any water left"

She sighed "I'm not going, seriously"

"I don't want you to go into the trees anyway," I said "but I'll join you, Tom, if you need any help"

"Thanks, mate" he smiled at me "I think we can make it for today, but tomorrow early I'll wake you up and we'll both go"

"I'll go with you" Luke said.

"Oh, guys, don't, please" Jazzie said.

"Well, we have to, Jazz" Luke said "Don't worry, I'll take care of your brother" he winked at her. Oh, Jesus, I'm gonna kick his ass, I swear to God!

"It's settle, then. Get some sleep tonight, Dougie. Tomorrow at midday we're going in"


	8. On My Life

**OH MY FREAKING GOD, FUCK YEAH! Sorry. I needed to let it out.**

**On Tuesday, I finished the last exams for this year. I'm SO happy. I've passed another year at school without failing any class, I gotta make daddy proud haha**

**Now I've got one more week of classes -though we're not gonna do much- THEN FREEDOM FOR THREE FREAKING MONTHS! Three! I damn deserve it, I've worked my ass off this year and I've gone through a lot of shit... So durying these three months of freedom I'm going to enjoy having a sexy boyfriend, cool friends who have nothing else to do but partying in my pool (and it's summer over here, for those who don't live in America), plus writting and reading.**

**Plus, last night I got the best news ever: my newphew was born. Gabriel. He's the cutest little thing ever, his tiny blue eyes take my breath away. My sister (who's not my blood sister, but to my family, she's one of us) lives in Canada so I can't see him, but I'm still so happy about this :) My boyfriend says I'm a sexy aunt haha  
**

**Enjoy and review.**

**

* * *

Dougie's POV.**

I kicked a rock and it disappeared under the grown grass.

Why was she upset? It wasn't _my_ fault that we were stuck here. Sure, she didn't get upset with Luke or Tom... Well, she was, but she didn't yell at _them_, she yelled at _me_.

Why did she yell at me?

_"Tonight Danny will take care of you"_ I'd said as I sat down next to her. She'd woken up and was laying on the ground next to Harry.

_"Oh, yeah?"_ she'd said, her voice kind of weird. She cleared her throat, I looked away and blushed, Harry tried not to smile _"Hum, why? I mean, no problem, you're probably tired of staying up all night"_

_"No, no, it's not that!" _I'd said_. _I hope she didn't really think that..._ "I need to sleep to get some energy for tomorrow"_

She'd lifted herself up from the ground and stared at me _"Why?"_

Ah, she'd realized.

_"We're going into the woods to look for food and water"_ I'd explain. I was logical, obvious; we _had _to go into the woods, we had no other choice.

_"What!" _she'd opened her eyes a lot as she raised her voice. Harry even finally looked away from his book _"Are you freaking insane!"_

Then Luke and I tried to explain everything to her, but she kept yelling and yelling, though her eyes were on me the whole time, like she was just yelling at me. Suddenly, she just turned around and walked away, ran to Danny's arms... Like she always does. I bit my tongue so I wouldn't shout, completely frustrated, and went to sleep with a frown in my forehead.

When I woke up this morning, she was sleeping in the car with Danny. I said nothing at all about anything at all, just followed Tom, Luke and Harry, who had agreed to join us, as we all walked towards the trees. I saw Jazzie staring at us from the tent, Frances by her side, her hand on my little sister's shoulders. Katie must had been sleeping when we left, I didn't see her. I took a deep breath; why was I nervous all of a sudden? Tom knows what he's doing, he used to tell us stories about him and his dad, when they used to go camping. I trusted him, it's just trees after all...

"Ok, I set the alarm. At four o'clock we're going back" he said.

"Four o'clock?" Luke repeated and sighed. It was 11 a.m.

"Don't start complaining now, God..." Tom mumbled.

"Sorry" Luke said.

And so we walked for hours. I thought we were just walking in circles, everything looked pretty much the same, all trees around us seemed the exact same to me, but Tom sounded pretty sure of himself and always kept walking without stopping. I didn't only get tired just two hours later, but also hungry, but Tom said we weren't eating until the moment we started walking back.

From time to time, Tom would tie a little piece of fabric, that used to be parts of Frances' expensive egyptian cotton sheet (we're going to get our asses kicked when she finds out about this...), to a branch of a tree. He said it was just in case, but assured us he knew which way we were going when Luke looked at him with panic in his eyes. You're not so tough now, huh?... Well, I was pretty freaked out too, actually... I thought he'd got lost. That would be it, we'd die there if Tom got lost.

Around three in the afternoon, Tom find a river. He smiled, proud of himself. I smiled, happy to have him as a friend. I would of died the first day if I'd been alone, I'm useless. He filled the four bottles we had and then we started walking towards the camp again. Harry had found some small fruits or something like that, but I wasn't too happy about that, they looked weird and I don't find getting poisoned funny at all under this circumstances._ "You can survive for several days by just drinking water" _Tom said. Yeah, great, thanks for the advice, dude...

Luke sat on the ground and laid his back against a tree. I joined him and took off my shoes for a moment, then caressed my ankles; I've stumbled around a thousand times during these past hours. Is this a sign? Had I done something that really pissed off God?

"Jesus!" he said and took a deep breath "I feel like staying here and going back to the others tomorrow"

"You're free to stay" Harry said, then looked around us "but there's no freaking way I'm spending the night in the forest"

"Yeah, dude, this place is creepy" I said. Every time we heard some kind of weird bird make some weird noise, it gave me goosebumps_. _It's seriously disturbing, the silence's too deep. I feel like Jason's going to jump from behind a tree and cut my head off or something...

"Come on, _girls_" Tom laughed "It's just trees and animals"

"Well, _excuse me_, Indiana Jones" Luke said "While you were out camping with your daddy, I was inside a house all comfortable in some girl's bed"

"There's no way that could of happened, I went camping when I was 10" Tom said as he raced an eyebrow.

"It might have happened!" Luke rolled his eyes.

Harry laughed "May we go back now, please? I'm just a few pages away from finishing my book"

I sighed "I can't take five more hours of walking"

"You'll have to, mate" Tom said "Unless you want to stay here"

"No, thanks" I said. Harry offered Luke his hand and he stood up. Together, the three of us started following Tom again.

"Besides, my cousin must be dying to see you" Luke said with a teasing voice.

"Oh, shut up, dude, just shut up" I said without looking at him "I _really _don't want to hear about it"

"Hurry up, boys, I want us back in the camp before it's too dark" Tom said as he walked faster.

* * *

**Katie's POV.**

"Why aren't they back!" Jazzie said as she walked all around us. She did the same thing Dougie does when he's nervous, which is running her fingers through her hair. She'd done that a hundred times in the last two hours.

"Danny, they should of come back two hours ago" Frances said.

"And what do you want _me_ to do?" he said "I'm just as worried as you girls are."

"Freaking out won't help" Mike said as he put an arm around his girlfriend, who's forgiven him only because she was too worry to be angry at him.

"What do you think?" Danny asked me. I had my arms around my legs and I was looking at my shoes, trying not to look up and stare at the trees.

"I'm trying _not_ to think, honestly" I said. I was trying not to picture my cousin falling off a cliff, or Harry getting eaten by a animal, or Dougie dead somewhere far away from me...

"Why aren't they back?" Jazzie said, her voice breaking in the end.

"Jazz, please don't do that" Danny said, in a pleading voice. Yeah, he had enough with _me_... "There's nothing I can do, we must wait here"

"Wait here? What if they are dead!" Jazzie yelled at him.

"Tom knew what he was doing, I swear to God they'll be back soon!" Danny yelled back at her.

"You said that one hour ago!"

"Both of you shut up!" Mike said.

"What if that guy I saw caught them?"

"What guy?" I said.

"Oh, well done, Jazzie!" Danny yelled at her, now angry.

"What guy!" I repeated, my voice a bit more demanding.

"I saw someone staring at us this morning, I know I was someone"

"_What!_" now I did look up and I couldn't help staring at the trees.

There was someone out there?

I started to cry. Damn, I'm like a baby! But I can't help it.

"Oh, God, please don't, Kate. Katie, love, it's nothing, I promise, they'll be back soon, everything's going to be ok" Danny assured me as he caressed my back.

"How do you know that?" I yelled at him. I looked at him straigh in the eyes "Look at me and tell me you swear to me they'll be back, you swear to me Dougie and my cousin and my friends will be back soon, swear it on _my_ life"

He hesitated "I can't"

"Then don't tell me everything's going to be ok!"


	9. Over My Dead Body

**Enjoy and review.**

* * *

**Katie's POV.**

Jazzie was holding my hand, sobbing noisily in my shoulder while I tried not to cry myself. Danny had an arm around my shoulder and Frances and Mike had their arms around each other, both of them looking straight into the darkness, towards the woods. I would give them a prize if they saw something, _anything_ at all.

Three hours. The boys should have come back three hours ago. My cousin, my friends, my Dougie... What if they never came back? What if I had to be the one to tell aunt Julie that Luke was gone, that he'd disappeared? What if I never actually get to tell Dougie what I feel for him?

I didn't want to think like this, I wanted to fall asleep and wake up in Dougie's arms, hear Tom's stupid arguments about Star Wars and watch Harry ignore us all as he read The Lord Of The Rings... But they should have been hours ago. I couldn't stop thinking that someone Jazzie saw could have hurt them, maybe that man was watching us right now. It terrified me. I already have a phobia, I don't need this crap, I want to stop being scared the whole time-

"Dougie!" Jazzie stood up in a blink and let go of my hand. She ran towards the darkes, Danny followed her almost unconsciously, like if he was ready to catch her if she tried to ran away to try to find her brother. But she wasn't seeing things this time, like he'd said before. There he was, Dougie, walking closely to the others. She crushed her brother in her arms and started to cry even more. He put his arms around her too.

"Where the hell where you!" Mike yelled at them "We've been waiting for you for hours!" Did he sounded tearfull aswell?

"Jazz, calm down, I'm alright" I heard Dougie whisper to his little sister. I wanted to cry myself, but this time the reason was happyness; he was alive, and not only alive but absolutely fine.

Now I was angry.

"Yes!" I yelled as I stood up. For the first time (I realized this later), I didn't realize I was standing in a dark place, I didn't realize there was no light but the one the fire provided us, I had too much in my head "Where _the fuck_ were you? We've been crying our eyes out! Do you have any idea what you all put us through?" Tears ran down my cheeks.

"I'm sorry!" Tom said "We came as fast as we could, it was too dark and we had no light, you know?"

"Tom got lost" Luke acussed him as he crushed on the ground.

"I didn't get lost! I couldn't _see_ where we were going!" Tom yelled angrily at him "Someone took away the pieces of fabric I'd tied to the trees!"

"_Sure_, Tom" Luke said, sounding like he'd heard that many times before.

"You don't believe me?"

"Just say it, dude, it's fine, you got lost!"

"I _didn't_!" Tom was furious, I'd never _ever_ seen him like that "I've been out camping loads of times and never in my life I got lost! I've_ never_ lost track of my trails!"

"Oh, so _someone_ took them, right?" Luke said, kind of mocking him. I don't blame him, this all was very weird, but we all now Tom's not a liar and he's the type of guy who would admit it if he was wrong.

"It could of been an animal, but yes, I believe a person took them. If it'd been just one trail that had gone missed, I would of find the others, but they were all gone" Tom insisted.

"This is it, there's definitely someone out there, this is the prouf!" Jazzie said, her face all red for all the crying.

"Tom, why would someone took your silly trails away?" Luke said.

"How would _I_ know?" he moved his arms in the air, frustrated "Tomorrow morning I'll go into the woods again and show you all the trails are gone!" Tom said.

"No" I said "No one's going in there again"

"I'm with Kate" Dougie said. He sounded so tired.

"What if this happens again?" Mike said "I don't want to sound like a dork, but I really don't want to go through something like this again..."

I wanted to say 'aaaw', but this wasn't the right moment.

Nobody say anything.

"Ok, _now_ I feel like a dork" Mike said "I had sex with Frances the first day we got stuck here"

"Mike!" Frances slapped the back of his head.

"Dude!" Dougie and Tom said at the same time.

"I'm sorry" Mike said "I needed to feel like an asshole again"

"Well, you succeeded!" Fran rolled her eyes.

Dougie and Jazzie sat down, and so did Harry and Tom.

"We'll have to go back if we're still here in a couple of days" Harry said "The water we brough won't last long"

I wanted to yell at him, but I couldn't. He was right. No matter how much I wanted him to be wrong, he was right. Some of us would have to go into the woods again, and quite soon, if nobody drove by.

"What if nobody comes along?" I said.

"We'll walk our way back home" Danny simply said, then stood up "I guess all of us are pretty tired tonight, so the shifts will be shorter, ok? I'll take the first one. Would anyone like to join me?"

Tom sighed "I will, I need a bit of your stupid humor"

Danny raced an eyebrow "_Thanks?_"

Tom smiled and just stared walking towards the car.

I put my arms around me, I was colder without Dan's arms around me. I wanted to ask Dougie to come and sit by my side, but after all I yelled at him the last we spoke, I don't think he'd want to... I was just so afraid, afraid he wouldn't come back, I didn't want him out of my sight. I know that may sound a little bit controlling, but it's not; would you want the person you are in love with to leave, to go into a forest that he doesn't know, under a situation like this one, knowing that he has no idea of what he's doing? I don't think so, ladies.

Harry and Luke just laid there, they didn't look like they were going to move, not even to go into their tent. Frances rested her head of her boyfriend's shoulder and he kissed her cheek. Those two are on fire, _believe me_, but one should admit they're pretty sweet when they want to. After all, what's a teenage relationship without a bit of animal instincts?

"I'll go to my tent, ok?" a sleepy Jazzie said in a low voice to Dougie. He just nodded and our eyes met. I looked away quickly, feeling stupid. God, I should say something, like 'hey, sorry for yelling at you like a crazy controlling bitch', but I don't think I've got the guts.

"Hey, aren't you cold?" Dougie said in a sweet voice. I looked up as he knelt in front of me.

"Actually, yes" I said, a bit awkwardly.

He took of his sweeter and I couldn't help looking at his stomach when his shirt followed the movement of his sweeter. I looked away quickly so he wouldn't notice me staring at him.

"Here" he said as he put ir around my shoulders. He sat down and took a deep breath.

"You don't have to stay up for me tonight" I said... Though I was praying he would, otherwise I would have to take this first shift with Danny; I love Danny, but I'm tired of him pushing me to tell Dougie how I feel. We shy people take our time with these kinds of stuff... _A lot_ of time.

"I know you don't really mean that" he said "You don't have to lie to me, you know?"

I looked down as I put my arms around my legs "Yeah, I know... Hey, Doug... I'm sorry about yelling at you earlier. I was just worried about you, you know?"

"You were worried about me? Why?" he looked up with deep interest. I blushed and hesitated.

"I meant _all_ of you" no, I didn't... Well, yes, of course I was worried about the others, what kind would I be otherwise? But... I can't help worrying about him a bit more.

"Oh" he nodded.

Should I have told him the truth? Was this the moment to tell Dougie how I felt about him? But all our friends were right here, just meters away from the two of us, they'd be listening, how freaking embarrasing...

Some kind of bird made a weird sound and it gave me goosebumps. I closed my eyes. Soon I felt Dougie's arm around me.

"Don't worry, I swear I won't let _anything_ harm you" his words seemed to have more passion this time, like he wasn't just trying to comfort me.

"What do you mean?" I said "Do you believe Tom and Jazzie?"

"Of course not, it's crazy"

"You don't have to lie to me, you know?"

"No fair using my words, Kate" he half-smiled, trying to be funny, but he wasn't going to distract me.

"I'm serious. You believe them, don't you? You believe there's someone else out there..."

Dougie didn't asnwer and I could have sworn he didn't realized it when he pushed me slightly closer to him, like an instinct. It made my heartbeat speed up. He was protecting me.

"I just know Tom had a lot of experience with camping..."

"What if it's just that weird dude from the cabin, the policeman?"

"He was no policeman, Kate, wake up. And he's not who Jazzie saw."

"So maybe he's not alone" tears came to my eyes at the thought of someone watching us, the thought of someone trying to hurt us in any kind of way.

He sighed "Listen, maybe it was nothing, maybe Tom got really lost for the first time ever and maybe Jazzie got confused and thought she saw someone, she hasn't been sleeping too well."

I nodded and tried not to sob.

Dougie bit his lip, feeling a bit guilty probably "I'll get you back home safely, I swear it on my life. If there's anyone out there, like that _policeman _we met" his voice was full of rage at the moment he spoke about him "he's not going to be able to touch a single lock of your hair. If he does, it'll have to be over my dead body"


	10. Run

**Harry birthday Dougie :) As you get older, you get hotter.**

**Enjoy and review.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, you are all very nice :)  
**

* * *

**Katie's POV.**

Danny took my hand and squeezed my hand. I recognized the pitty in his eyes. The sun hadn't risen yet, though the sky started to look slightly reddish instead of dark blue. The fog still covered the ground and my heart beat too fast against my chest every time I looked at the forest.

"We could stay, I'd stay with you..." Danny said.

"Danny..." Mike said softly "Tom said we can't split up"

"But look at her!" he said. I looked down, feeling everyone's eyes on me. Everything would be easier without me, we had had this conversation a thousand times yesterday... "She's not ready for this"

"We've already been through this, I'm sorry, Danny" Tom said, then I felt his hand on my cheek. I raised my head to look at him "I'm sorry Katie" he said in a soft voice "You understand why we should _all _go together, right?"

I nodded. Because of _him_. Because of whoever Jazzie saw, because of the person that got rid of Tom's trails. We couldn't split up, the biggest the group was, the stronger we would be, and so we would be safer. We didn't know what he wanted with us, why he did that to Tom's trails, but we didn't want to find out either.

There had been a little accident the other day. No one's to blame, but Harry and Dougie kind of dropped on the bottles of water and three bottles weren't enough for nine people that had to spend the whole day under the sun. Apart from that, Tom had mentioned seeing fishes in the river and, God, we all wanted real food by now. Then Frances started saying how much she'd like to have a shower or anything that came close to that, and Jazzie agreed.

"We're going now so we'll be back by the time the sun comes down" Tom said. He's said that a zillion times yesterday too as he tried to convince me. I wasn't convince, but what could I do? Ask someone to stay behind with me? No, it'd be dangerous. I was scared, I was freaking out, but I wasn't _that_ selfish.

"I'm ok, Dan" I lied, trying to sound convincing, though I knew he wouldn't buy it.

He sighed "I promise I'll be right behind you the whole time, we'll come back early"

"Sure" I nodded and tried to smile, a weird frown was all I could get so I stopped trying.

We put all our things inside the cars and then set the car alarm. Tom had forced Frances to wear trainers instead of her usual pretty shoes, and warned us this would be a hard afternoon of walking. Dougie, Harry and Luke sighed, knowing what to expect.

Tom was leading the way, Harry following him quite closely. This time he said he wasn't going to leave trails, in case somebody was following us. Mike and Frances were behind them, holding hands. Mike was helping her, she would stumble around twice every five minutes, poor Fran. She was great with unnaturally tall high heels, but nature's not her thing. I heard her cursed a lot of times under her breath, and we were just begining...

Jazzie was walking in front of me, she seemed to have some difficulties from time to time, but she putting up with it. Dougie seemed to have a bit more practise as he walked by my side, just a meter or two to my left. When it seemed that Jazzie was about to fall, he would move fowards toward her and help her, it was kind of like he didn't know wheter to help me or his sister. I smiled though, it was sweet. Luke was walking by my side too, he looked careless, he thought all of this was just stupid.

"_You have all watched _way_ too many horror movies_" he'd said and rolled his eyes. Then he'd put his arms around me and spoked to me in a sweet voice "_Babe, you've got nothing to worry about, our friends here are just tired and nervous, ok?_" But though he was trying to make me feel better, he couldn't, cause I believed both Tom and Jazzie...

... And the though of someone out there, watching us... I couldn't stop thinking about it. And the rest weren't helping, like Tom, who was carrying a golf club. I don't know why he would bring that to out holidays on the beach, but he still had it, and he was carrying it now like we would need protection.

Luke took my hand after a while, probably noticing the tears on my eyes. It was even darker here and the sounds of forest were driving me insane.

"It's just animal, Katie" he whispered and caressed my hand with his thumb "They can't and won't hurt us"

My cousin is a huge asshole... But he means well a lot of times too, there's a lot to love about him underneath that womanizer attitude.

"It's still too dark" was all I could answer him.

Around an hour later, things started to get better for me as the sun rose, though I could never relax. No one us talked, we needed all out breath and strength, and there wasn't much to talk about either. Besides, Tom said it was better that way, he was convinced there was someone following us. Dougie made a face at him behind his back when I was looking at him and winked an eye at me.

"He's just paranoid, everything's alright, Kate" he whispered. Yes, they all like to play dumb with me, and though I appreciate their good intentions, I knew there was something wrong with all of this.

After an eternity, we finally freaking arrived. It was around midday and Jazzie ran straight into the river.

"Water!" she shouted in excitement.

"No, wait!" Tom said and grabbed her by the arm.

"What?"

"We'll catch some fished first, then you girls can... Cool down" he kind of blushed.

The three of us sighed; well, I didn't want to come here, but now we'd arrived, a nice dip in the river wasn't gonna hurt anybody. It even sounded quite good, my hair was a mess.

Harry helped Tom to catch some fishes with their shirts while Luke started a fire. Mike and Frances just made out while Dougie, Danny and I looked awkwardly away from them.

"Ok, girls" Harry said and he scratched the back of his head as he blushed "Now you can, you know... Do your thing... We'll let you know when lunch's ready"

* * *

**Dougie's POV**

We all looked down, neither of us wanted to look up, afraid that, though the girls were behind us, we would see them. I was horrified by the idea of seeing my sister by mistake, Luke didn't want to see his cousin and the rest didn't want to see my sister or Mike's girlfriend. I don't think anybody would mind seeing Kaitlynn -apart from Luke-, she was hot, and though she was everybody's friend, we're guys and you know what they say; true friendship between men and women is hard to find. I mean, if Kate would wink an eye at me or Tom or Harry, they wouldn't reject her. That's just the way things are.

"So..." Luke said, then cleared his throat. Son on a bitch, I bet he'd love to turn around to see my sister "Is the fish ready?"

We could hear the girls whispering things to each other and laughing from time to time, water moving too...

'_Don't think about Kaitlynn, don't think about her..._' I thought, trying not to start pacing back and forth.

"Eeer, girls" Tom called out loud, without turning around "Lunch- Lunch's ready"

"We'll be there in a minute" Jazzie said.

We ate in silence. We, the boys, were still looking down at our shoes 'cause the girls' underwear were wet, so their clothes were wet too... None of us wanted to look like a pig.

We started walking back to the cars when Tom give the order, saying we'd rest too much and we needed to be fast. Katie seemed a lot more relax after her bath in the river or whatever you want to call it, I wasn't thinking too clearly.

But that calm state started to fade away as everything around us became darker, I could see it in her eyes. So I took her hand and didn't let it go.

"That wasn't there before" Harry said and I looked up. He and Tom had stopped and were staring at a big fallen tree.

"This is the way" Tom said, sounding completely sure of himself.

Jazzie gasped and grabbed the closest hand to her, which was Danny's.

"It's him, isn't it?" she said, horrified. I wanted to put my arms around her, but suddenly I felt like I physically wouldn't be able to let go Katie's hand.

"Tom, it's getting dark, what should we do?" Luke said.

"There's nothing we can do but go on" he said.

We followed Tom, that walked around the tree. Frances stumbled and there was a weird sound, like something breaking. Then out of nowhere something fell over her from above, from the trees. She screamed and made Mike fall as she jumped backwards. Jazzie screamed too when she was what had fallen over her. Dead birds.

"Baby, wait!" Mike yelled when Frances started running.

"Frances, come back!" Tom and Harry run after her. Luke forced Jazzie to follow them.

I tried to run, but Kate didn't follow my movement.

"Kate, let's go!" I said "We need Tom"

"Katie!" Danny shook her shoulders, she seemed to be in some of shock "We need to go!"

"Danny, go and tell the others to wait for us!" I yelled nervously. He hesitated "Go!"

He bit his lip, but then followed the way the other's had taken.

I took Kate's face on my hands and forced her to stare at my eyes. Suddenly I felt like there was someone watching us. There really was someone messing with us...

"Please, concentrate, it's important, I know you can do it" I whispered "We need to go. _Now_."

Some tears ran down her cheeks but then she nodded. I dragged her by the hand, and I ran toward my screaming friends, or where I thought they were. They seemed to be everywhere, I was no sence of orientation.

Then I realized we were alone. Where had everybody gone?


	11. Sleep Tight

**Sorry for the delay! :/ I blame the walking dead for that and my boyfriend and my friends, being on holidays makes me forget about the computer, I'm soooo sorry!  
**

**Enjoy and review.**

* * *

**Doug's POV**

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to hear my friends, trying to locate them. I could hear Danny, somewhere, not too far, calling out for Tom. For some reason, I wanted him to stop, shouting wasn't safe, whoever was messing with us would locate him, maybe before I did. I had no sense of orientation, no sense of survival either; how could I be able to take care of Katie if I couldn't take care of _myself_? This is when I remember mum saying '_learn to use a compass before you actually need it_'. Well, I never thought I'd need to learn how to use one! And they're _so_ confussing! And I guess I shouldn't trust my instincts this time either, should I? I mean, I wouldn't just get myself lost, but Katie aswell, and I couldn't afford wasting time. I mean, most of the times, when your instincts tell you to go left, you should of gone right... And... I don't even know what's going right or going left here. This is like a huge labyrinth made of trees and green stuff.

"What are you doing?" Katie said, still breathing heavily "We need to find the others, we'll get lost"

"I know, I'm trying-"

"They went that way. Come on, hurry up" she took my hand and started dragging me across the forest. She stumbled a lot of times to the point of falling to the ground, I would always pull her up, she'd grab my hand and keep running.

"Can you hear them?" I asked after a while, breathing heavily, resting my hands on my knees.

"No" she said in one gasp. She took a deep breath before talking again "But look at the ground, the grass... It's kind of... Squashed. They've been here"

I nodded. Ok, great. Now, where are they _exactly_?

I looked up "It's going to be dark soon" she looked down, I squeezed her hand "I need you to be brave."

She sighed "I'll try, I promise"

"Let's keep moving, Tom was leading us that way" she said. She started dragging me again, never letting go of my hand. I was able to keep up with her, but maybe because neither of us was running too fast. We weren't going to make it to the camp before sunset without Tom and maybe that was what kept Katie going.

Suddenly we heard someone screaming, a girl, and stopped inmediately. First thing I did, don't know why, I just did it instinctively, was to kneel down, almost pushing Katie to the ground too.

"Who was that?" she said in a whisper, completely terrified.

"I don't know" I felt like there was something stuck on my throat.

My sister. My little sister. Was that my sister? Oh, my God, if something happens to me sister... I bit my tongue, I had to stay strong for Kate's sake.

"Where did it come from?" I asked "Where did it come from!"

"I don't know!"

"What do we do?"

"I-" she moved her hands and I knew she knew just as much as I did; nothing. "This is so fucking messed up" she ran her fingers through her hair, a crazy look on her eyes.

"Maybe it was just Frances bumping into a insect or something..." I said.

"No, it was far away, whoever it was, she shouted to the top of her lungs."

"Do we run that way? Should we avoy them?"

"I don't know!" she yelled nervously.

She started breathing heavily, I could tell she was going to start crying soon.

"We just have to find the camp on our own, Tom will lead the rest" I said "It's not safe here"

"And being there on our own is?" she said "How are we going to find the camp anyway? We've got no clue where we are"

I ran my fingers through me head "I _know _that, Katie!" I said "Please try to help me!"

She closed her eyes and sighed, then she took my hand again and stood up.

"We can't do this alone, we _need_ Tom" she said "And we have to find him soon, Dougie" she was fighting back the tears now, her voice trembling as she spoke "Once the sun goes down, we'll be stuck in here... I- I can't hand that, I'm sorry"

I put my arms around her, I couldn't help it, it broke my heart to see the girl I'm kind of in love with crying. How can anyone put up with that?

"We'll get out of here, honey, soon..." I sighed "Come on, let's go"

We jumped up and kept running towards the directions Kate thought she'd heard one of our friends scream.

Suddenly a guy jumped from behind a tree and caught Katie. I was about to hit him when I realized it was Luke, who quickly put a hand over Katie's mouth as she opened it to scream.

"Shhh! It's alright, it's me" he mumbled softly.

"Are you insane!" I yelled at him "How could you do something like that! You'll give her a heart attack, you _asshole_!"

"Be quiet!" he hissed as he moved Katie closer to him and forced her to kneel down on the floor. She struggled to break free and pushed him away.

"What the hell, Luke!" she said, hysterical.

"Dougie!" Jazzie came running to me from behind a tree and I felt a huge weight falling down my chest.

"Jazzie!" I put my arms around her as soon as she was near me and pulled her as close to me as I could "Oh, thank God, you're ok!"

"Dougie, what's going on?" she sobbed in my arms.

"I don't know, sis. Luke, thank you so much for taking care of her"

"It's ok." he half-smiled at me, still talking in a low voice.

"Where are the others? I thought you were following them" I said.

"Jazzie stumbled and hurt her wrist" he said "We stopped for just a second and then they were just gone"

"It hurts" Jazzie said as she stepped away a little bit. I examined her wrist without touching it, she wouldn't let me. It was red, swollen and it looked kind of weird.

"We'll take care of it as soon as we find the camp" I said.

"I think I can lead us back there" Luke said "And I'm sure the others will go there aswell, but I don't think it's safe there anymore"

"What do you mean?"

"There's someone following all of us, mate, and they know we'll try to get there. I mean, why do you think I'm whispering" he said "I remember the way back to the camp, I wear. We should wait until tomorrow, then I'll lead us to the others, I promise. But it's not safe to walk around the forest right now, it's going to be completely dark soon, very soon"

"That's exactly why we should go on" I insisted "Kate can't spend the night here"

"We don't have light over there, it's the same bullshit"

"Luke, she can't stay, you can't force to go through this"

He rolled his eyes and looked away from me. In a very sweet way, he pulled his cousin in his arms and looked at her straight in the eyes.

"Kaitlynn, I adore you, you _know _that. You know I'll protect you and I want what's best for you... And I honestly think we should stay, be quiet for a while. We're in the middle of some serious shit, we don't know who these people are or what they want. I'm not letting them near you"

"Luke" she bit her lip "I can't-"

"I know you can't. But you _must_ do it."

"So what do we do?" I said, annoyed, I admit I was scared, I didn't want to spend the night here "We just sit and wait until the sun rises again?"

"Exactly" Luke said camly. He was serious for the very first time in his life, or at least it was the first time _I_ saw him like this. It made me feel like this was even more serious than I'd thought.

"You're insane" I said.

"Dougie, listen to him" Jazzie said "I don't like this more than you do, but maybe he's right"

"You only agree with him 'cause you like him" I said "You may forget the way back to the camp if we wait for too long"

"I won't forget" he said "I'm sorry, I don't want to be here either, but we are, so suck it up, you're not helping"

"But-"

"I'll get us out of here tomorrow morning, I swear to God. Now sit down and shut up"


	12. Missing

**I'm sorry to everyone, I happen to be on holidays in the beach and I don't have a computer over here, I have to pay and, damn, it's rather expensive, stupid paid computers...  
**

**Enjoy and review.**

* * *

**Doug's POV**

I heard Kate sob all night long. It wasn't only disturbing, but it was also a constant reminder of where we were and what situation we were all in. I felt so terribly sorry about her. I'm sure Luke didn't sleep either. How could he, if his cousin cried her eyes out for hours? He would pull her closer to his chest so Katie wouldn't get too noisy. I think Jazzie cried a little bit too, I don't blame her, we were all nervous and, I've got to admit, we were _all_ scared. _So_ scared. I prayed that we would bump into our friends, I prayed and I waited, yet there were no where to be seen. They had completely disappeared as far as we knew. They were either back in the camp or they were somewhere in the trees, trying to be as quiet as we were.

When the sun finally started to rise, I felt even more lost than before, I was dizzy; I was too tired to think and I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten something usefull. My body seemed to weigh a lot more and I envy the sleepy Jazzie in my arms. Katie fell asleep when the trees started to become green instead of black, and so did I, but only a few hours later Luke woke us up.

"Time to go, time to go" he said with no enthusiasm, sounding just as tired as I felt, as he grabbed Katie's wrists and pulled her up softly.

She sighed, frustated, but stood up. She closed her eyes for a moment, looking like she was going to fall asleep on her feet, then opened them and sighed once more.

"I'm hungry" Jazzie said.

"Please, don't remind me" I said "So, you still remember the way, don't you?"

"Yes, I do" Luke said, sounding a bit pissed off "Now let's go, I wanna get there as soon as possible. We'll be quiet, ok?"

"No breakfast?" Jazz mumbled. He raised an eyebrow and she looked down as she blushed "I was kidding"

"Come on" I stared at him as he took my sister's hand and started leading the way. If I hadn't been so tired, I would of been annoyed for that.

Katie had big violet marks under her eyes and it made me feel so sorry for her, though I knew I had to look like that too for sure. And, man, I was HUNGRY! I'm never going to bitch about my mother's food, never _ever_ again, I'll be glad to sleep in my tiny room and have a shower on our tiny bathroom. I'm not even going to complain about school.

"Our parents must be so worried" Luke said "My mother made me swear I would call her as soon as we arrived. So did yours, Katie... She said I was in charge of you."

"You don't have to be, I'm 18 now" she said, sounging annoyed. Well, her mum's still pretty controlling, that's the prize she pays for being the only child. Plus, she's a girl. That always makes parents even more controlling **[a/n: so true.]**

"Well, I am, whether you like it or not." he said.

"Oh, I hadn't thought about that!" Jazzie said as she opened her eyes a lot "Oh, Dougie, mum! She must be freaking out! We were supposed to call her days ago"

"Ah, sis, don't think about that" I said.

Truth is, I hadn't thought about that until then... Now I was picturing my mum, alone in our house, crying, wondering where the hell we were, if we were dead or alive, asking herself why weren't picking up the phone. Oh, God, I hated thinking of her like that, worried, sad, crying, miserable, wondering if her kids were ok... All our parents had to be in the same situation. Were them in touch? Had my mum called another parent and asked them if they knew anything about us? Maybe they had, maybe they were already looking for us. That was exactly why it was so important to stay near the road. We would be found, we _had_ to be... Before somebody else found us...

"Let's hurry, shall we?" Luke said "And be quiet"

All I heard for hours was us breathing heavily, my sister's deep sights and the weird, creepy sounds of the forets. Who knew that a bunch of tall, green and old tress could be so scary? Plus, half our group of friends were still missing, there was so freaking sight of them and apparently there were some rather weird people out there.

"You made it" Jazzie said as she smile "You found the camp!" I looked up from the ground -while we walked, I always had to looked down and make sure I didn't stumble _again_- and saw my sisters running towards the end of the trees. We followed her closely. Just a few meters to the right from were we were, I saw our cars parked in the side of the road. I smiled with pleasure.

"Luke, you're a genius!" I said.

"Now, I wish I could have recorded that, you know'" he said with a smile.

We reached the cars and Jazzie hugged one of them.

"I've never been happier to see something created by men. Oh, God, I've had enough of nature!"

"Me too" Luke said and sat down "I could use a nap, you know?"

We stayed in silence for a moment as we all sat down.

"The others..." Katie said "They aren't back yet... Tom knew the way better than Luke did, so why aren't they back yet?"

"Maybe they made the same decisions we did, but also decided to rest a little bit more" I said.

"I don't know... I can't help worrying" she said.

"Look, why don't you too take a nap," Jazzie said "while Dougie and I wait for the others?"

"What?" I said "I wanna sleep too!"

"There's no way I'm staying up all by my self"

I rolled my eyes and sighed; yes, she was right, there was no way I was doing that anyway.

Kate rested her head against my shoulder and soon fell asleep. She looked like crap, so tired, I felt so sorry for her, and it also killed me to be unable to do anything to make her feel better.

I don't know what time it was, but the sun was still high up in the sky, burning my head, but I was too tired to move. Jazzie was humming, and that made me even more sleepy. My eyes were about to close, my eyelids felt heavy...

"Oh, my God!" she shouted, stood up and ran away.

"What, what?" I said as I opened my eyes and tried to no look tired. And there they were, walking toward us, our friends. I shook Luke's shoulders, who woke up inmediately, looking annoyed by my shaking him, and then I whispered softly into Kate's ear -there was no way I was waking her up like I hope Luke up-. "Hey, honey, wake up, look who's here"

She opened her eyes and I helped her up. With a lot of effort -or it looked like that-, she ran towards Danny and threw her arms around his neck.

"Thank God you are all ok!" she cried.

"Wait a minute" Luke said as the others came closer. They looked just as tired as we were, none of them were speaking and some of them looked like they had been crying. Specially Frances "Where's Mike?"

I looked around and started to count them; Harry, Tom, Fran, Danny...

Frances bust out in tears and fell to the floor on her knees.

"He's dead!"


	13. Look Away

**Hey, many thanks for the review :) I'm really sorry about all the delays!  
**

**Enjoy and review.**

* * *

**Doug's POV**

"Dead?" Jazzie repeated, sounding like she was in shock. I just stood there as Kate knelt down on the floor too, put her hands over her face and started to cry. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen her smile, and my fingers weren't enough to count all the time I'd seen her cry since we got stuck here "What do you mean dead!"

"What _else_ could I possibly mean!" Frances yelled at her, full of anger and despair.

"But- No!" Luke's hands flew to his head and he looked at his friend in horror "He- He can't be dead- I mean- No..." tears started to roll down his cheeks "He's- He's my best friend, he can't be dead"

"We're gonna die, we're all going to die" Kate cried on the ground.

Jazzie threw herself on my arms and I pressed her tightly agaist my chest, still in shock.

"This-" I looked around, waiting for someone to laugh and say it was all just a really unpleasent joke "This doesn't make sense..."

"It makes perfect sense!" Frances yelled "We're trapped here! We're all going to get fucking killed!"

"How did this happen!" I asked.

Nobody spoke for a moment, all I could hear was my friends crying and sobbing, it still didn't make sense, this didn't feel real.

* * *

**Tom's POV**

"Mike" I yelled and ran after Fran and Mike "Fucking hell, Mike, will you please stop her?" I gasped for hair. Jesus Christ, this girl can run.

"Fran, love, hold on a second!" he shouted after his girlfriend.

Harry was right behind me, I turned around a thousand times to make sure he didn't lose sight of me, that'd be a very huge complication.

Frances finally gave up, after what seemed forever, and probably because she'd run out of energy and air, just as all of us. Harry knelt down on the floor and took a deep breath.

"Jeez-" he said, a hand over his chest.

"What the hell, Frances" I said, annoyed "You can't just ran away like that, are you insane?"

"Leave me the fuck alone, Tom!" she yelled back "Didn't you fucking see that!"

"Honey, it'll be alright" Mike put his arms around his girlfriend and kissed her cheek a thousand times "It's be alright"

"How do you know?"

"I'm here to take care of you babe" he smile tenderly at her. Yes, he's a jerk most the time, but as far as we can see, he actually truly seems to love her... Even though she's slightly unbearable.

"We're been followed, don't you all understand that!" she sobbed loudly "They may be watching us right now!"

We all looked around us in silence, but there was nothing out there but trees and birds. The thought of someone watching us did make me deeply uncomfortable, not to mention it scared the hell out of me.

"Where's Luke?" Mike suddenly asked, looking alarmed.

"He was right-" Harry said, as he turned around and stopped for a second as he saw nobody following him "behind me... With Jazzie"

"And where are Kate and Dougie? And Danny?" Mike said.

"Well done, Frances" Harry mumbled "You've managed to split us all. We're fucking lost now"

"Don't be like that" I said "I still can find the way back to the camp"

"Yes, but what about the others? Kate will be in the middle of a huge crisis in just a few hours, she needs us all, she needs a fire, light. And the others, they don't know the way back to the camp and the cars" he said.

"Don't blame this on me!" Frances yelled at him, tears running down her cheeks uncontrollably.

"Shut up!" Mike yelled "All of you! Listen"

We all started at him, and also kept our mouths shut.

"Tom!" Danny's voice yelled from the distance "Frances! Where are you! Harry!"

He was near, I knew it, I knew where his voice was coming from...

"I'll be right back!" I suddenly said, turning to the others "_Don't_ move!"

I saw Harry's mouth opening, but by the time he said something, I had always begun running towards Danny. He wasn't too far from where the others were, luckyly he'd been heading towards the right way. About time we had _some_ luck...

"Danny!" I shouted, half-smiling, and he turned around.

"Oh, thank God, there you are!" he said "Where are the others?"

"Quickly, come with me" I said, and just ran back to the others. Mike looked upset.

"Don't do that again! You can't just run away and leave us standing here!" he said.

"Oh, shut up" Harry said as he rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Don't tell me to shut up" Mike said, even angrier.

"Love, stop" Fran said, gently touching his arm. Her eyes and cheeks were red, her hair all messed up, something incredibly unsual on her. Mike looked down at her for a moment, then sighed and put one arm around her shoulders.

"Where's Kate? Weren't you with her?" I asked Danny.

"I left her with Dougie, I- I thought they were following me." he said, looking nervous.

"What about Luke and Jazzie?" Frances asked.

"I thought they were with you" he said.

"Oh, great" Mike said "So there's us, then Kate and Dougie, then Luke and Jazzie. This is great, this is fucking awesome"

"You're not helping" I said, trying to be calm. In situations like this one, it's just too easy to get angry and start yelling, which was exactly what I wanted to avoid "Look, we'll just find Luke and Jazzie first, I think they were following us, then we'll go back for Dougie and Kate"

"What if something happened to them?" Frances said.

"_Nothing_ happened to them!" I said "We are all going to be just f-"

And then it just happened, so fast I didn't even see it coming. He just fell backwards, to the floor. Frances fell too, but only because his arm was still around her shoulder. She moaned, expressing suffering, she must had got her when she fell, but all our eyes were on Mike. An arrow was buried on his chest. He had his eyes wide opened, in shock. Frances knelt down by his side and started at him for a moment, in shock. She didn't even scream, like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"What-" Danny gasped. Harry suddenly ran towards Mike as he took off his t-shirt. He knelt down by his side and pressed his t-shirt again his wound. Mike cried in pain and tried to push him away.

"Take if off me!" he cried. He was breathing heavily, like it was the hardest thing he had ever had to do.

"Mike-" Frances was speechless and Danny and I did nothing but stand there, too shock to do anything. I looked around, suddenly, waiting for something to heat _me_ this time, but the forest was calm and quiet, nobody around. What the hell had just happened? How didn't I see this coming? How didn't I hear someone coming?

"Tom, I-" Harry looked at me "Do something!"

"What do you want me to do!" I said, feeling guilty as my brain started to work again. Danny's body started to work again too, and he grabbed Frances from behind and put his arms around her. She starting crying inmediately.

"Oh, my God, babe!" she cried as she looked at his boyfriend.

"Take if off me, please!" Mike cried again.

"Do it, Tom!" Harry yelled at me, desperate.

"I can't!"

"You're a fucking idiot!" he yelled at me. He grabbed the arrow from one end and pushed it away from Mike's chest. He shouted like I'd never heard someone shout before, it was deeply disturbing, and Katie's cries followed all the scene. Harry quickly put his chest back on Mike's bleeding chest.

No one said anything for a moment.

"I-" Harry was in tears "I don't know what to do"

"You have to go something!" Frances yelled. She pushed Danny away and caressed Mike's cheek "Babe, just hold on. Please..."

I met Harry's eyes, full of tears, and I knew what was going to happen. It was happening right then, right there, and there was nothing we could do. He was dying, right in front of us, and we couldn't stop it, I couldnt stop it. Why wasn't I dead too? I was an easy target. Why was Mike the only one who was laying on the floor, dying? I wished it was me, I wished I could save him.

Soon he started to choke on his own blood and we did nothing to stop it, we didn't know how to stop this.

"This is a nightmare" Danny suddenly said and closed his eyes.

"Don't do that!" Frances yelled at him and pushed him "Help him!"

"I- I love you" Mike shocked.

"Don't!" Fran cried "Don't say goodbye"

"I think you should say your goodbyes too" I mumbled. Fran looked at me with anger and pain.

"No!" she said and took Mike's head on her arms "He'll be fine, he'll be fine!"

"No" Mike said "Go"

"We're not leaving you" Fran said.

"Leave!" Mike said even louder.

I bit my lip, but our eyes met. It was time, he knew it, he was going to die... And he didn't want us to watch. Harry stood up, crying, and forced Frances to stand up too, his hands around her wrist, pushing her.

"No!" she cried.

I grabbed Danny's arm and pushed him up.

"Follow me" I said "We need to go"


	14. A Reason To Live

**I know, I know, I'm a bitch, I know it's been a long time since my last update, I'm really sorry, but I've been travelling a lot and these were my last holidays, now I'm on my last year at school and God knows if I'll ever have free time again hahaha I'm planning to study a lot when I finish. Hope you understand?**

**As you may or may not know, Dougie's in rehab. I just want to say that I wish he gets betters and finds a woman who will love him forever, even though I can't be that lucky girl! Get better, we love you Doug x  
**

**Anyway, thanks a lot to you all for the reviews :)  
**

**Enjoy and review.**

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**Doug's POV**

We staid for a while in silence, Jazzie was still on my arms. She'd cried for a long time, along with the other girls and Luke... And me. The others seemed to try not to listen to us. Frances was on the floor, her eyes opened, but she was staring into nothingness, lost in thoughts as she cried silently.

"This is so unreal" I heard Luke said "I just... Can't believe it..."

I refused to look up and see the pain in his eyes. As far as I knew, Luke had been the closest to Mike, apart from Frances, obviously. He had brought Mike to us, made him a part of the group, and with him came Fran too. And now he was simply gone. He had been murdered. I pressed Jazzie even closer to my chest, her tears made my shirt wet. The thought of losing her... I couldn't stand it... And if Mike was gone, so could she, so could all of us, we could be murdered too.

"We left him" Fran said in a disturbingly calm voice.

"That's what he wanted" Tom said.

"That's what he wanted?" she repeated. I closed my eyes, kissed my sister's blong hair and tried to ignore them "I think he would have prefered to _live_"

"Oh, and you think we don't know that?"

"We should have helped him!" she sobbed loudly.

"I tried" Harry said "I didn't know what to do"

"You should have helped him!"

"Don't do that, it's not his fault!" Tom said.

"I loved him. I love him. What if he's still alive?"

"He wasn't dead when you left him?" Katie asked. She hadn't spoken in hours.

"No!" Frances said "He was still breathing! And we left him all alone there, with that psycho hiding in the trees. We can still bring him back with us, maybe he's alive"

"He was bleeding too much, Fran-" Harry said.

I looked up as she stood up and Luke followed her movements closely.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I want to find him"

"He'd dead" Harry said coldly, but it was the truth and she needed to hear it, she needed to understand it.

"You don't know what!" she yelled "You're just too scared to end up like him!"

"Yes, I am! I don't want to end up _dead_!"

She threw herself over him and tried to punch him on the face, but Luke grabbed her from behind.

"Stop" Kate said "Don't you see what this is doing to us? Whoever killed Mike wants us to split up, we can't, Fran, I'm sorry, but we can't. It's not safe in the trees. I mean, whoever it's out there, is _seriously_ sick! Who the hell kills people with an arrow, for God's sake?"

"Oh, you just say that cause you're too scared to go in there again, too scared it will get dark before we get back" she said angrily "You're a burden to all of us"

"Don't speak to her like that!" I yelled.

"Oh, you _know_ I'm right!" Frances yelled back at me.

"And you know she can't help it!" Danny yelled.

Katie stood up as she bust out in tears again and ran toward the cars. I stood up and so did Luke, but Danny grabbed his arm to stop him. That surprised me, but I didn't pay too much attention to that at the moment, I appreciated the chance to be alone with her. She knelt down on the floor behind the cars so the rest of our friends couldn't see her and covered her face with her hands, crying her eyes out. I knelt down awkwardly next to her and put my arms around her.

"Kate, don't cry" I said softly "You know she didn't really mean it, she's not being herself right now, she loves you"

"Don't try to be nice!" she cried "She _did _mean it! And she's right!"

"No, she's not, you're not a burden, we love you the way you are"

She moved her face from side to side and looked up at me. She placed a hand on my cheek.

"I would rather die-" she sobbed "than know that something bad happened to you for me"

I didn't know what to say. Did she mean just me or all of us by that 'you'? She couldn't mean just me... Could she? But... Jazzie'd said she liked me...

"I-" I opened my mouth to speak, then closed it again, then opened it again "There's nothing we can do about your phobia, we don't blame you for being scared, we _all_ are, and we won't leave you. No one else needs to die. I'm _not_ leaving you. We'll be home sooner than you think"

"Prosime me" she said between sobs.

"I _swear_"

I could't promise her this, it was out of my control, but I _had_ to, what was I supposed to say to her? I would go back home with her even if it was the last thing I did. I would never forgive myself if she died, even if it wasn't my fault.

I gritted my teeth together and closed my eyes, trying to hold back the tears, I didn't want to cry in front of her, but right then I couldn't help myself... I'd never see Mike again, and it scared the hell out of me to think that maybe someone else could die, someone I cared about so deeply, my friends, my sister, my Katie...

Katie placed her free hand on my other cheek and rested her forehead on mine.

"There's no shame in crying"

I felt a tear ran down my cheek.

My Jazzie, my lovely sister, with her messy blond hair, always trying to hang out with my friends, always smiling and laughing, always terribly annoying... If something ever happened to her...

"I-" I swallowed and tried not to stammer or sob "I want to tell you s-something"

I had to tell her. It could be now or never. Did I really want to die without telling her I loved her? Because I really think I did. What else could this be but love? I dont think I had ever felt something this strong. And since there was a chance we may day here...

"Don't" she said. She didn't move, neither did I. I didn't even dare to open my eyes, though I wanted to, I wanted to stare at her, to see her while I still could "Tell me when we get home. You promised..."

"I know I did, but..." the need was burning inside my chest, I _had_ to do something, I _had _to tell her. I _must_. I knelt down, without separating our foreheads, without opening my eyes. I took her face on my hands, her cheeks were wet, my hands were trembling, my brain was saturated with a million different thoughts and concerns. "Then at least let me do this"

Gently I pressed my lips against her. Just my lips. They were wet too, like mine, but I didn't care.

Kate was soft. Softer than anything else in the whole world.

Kate was perfect. More perfect than anything else in the whole Universe.

She didnt move, she didn't push me away. Was it true then? Did she feel something for me too?

Here was another reason to live.

"Guys..." Danny said in a shallow, dead voice. He was getting closer. With an awkward movement, I dropped my hand and leaned away from her as I opened my eyes and avoided her eyes. Just seconds later Danny appeared from behind the car. Her eyes and face were red "We decided to sleep in the cars, we're going to take turns to sleep"

"Al-alright" I said. The magic had ended, Danny had thrown me back into reality.

"Are you alright, Katie?" he asked her. She didn't answer, I didn't look at her, she must have nodded "You don't have to take turns, you can sleep"

"Right, 'cause I'm useless"

"Come on, I didn't say that"

She sighed "I know..." and then she started to cry again. This time I put my arms around her. Danny bit his lips, he was going to cry to, which made _me_ want to cry again, like a chain reaction.

I wondered how many times I would see Katie cried, she seemed unstoppable.

The sun was setting, soon we would be sorrounded by darkness, we'd be in danger again. I don't think I would be able to sleep, I would wake up every five minutes, I was too nervous to sleep.

Mum must be waiting for us to call, and, oh, how I missed her voice! I wondered when I would be able to hear it again.

When would this all be over?


	15. Be A Man

**Jesus, sorry for the delay again, I'm just dealing with a lot of things, getting ready for Architecture University, school, family, sport... I hope you'll forgive me!**

**Enjoy and review.**

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**Doug's POV**

Katie's head rested on Jazzie's shoulder, both of them were sleeping. I was sitting next to her on the back of Luke's car. Luke was in silence, sitting on his own in the driver's seat, but I could tell he was still awake. In front of us was Tom's car. Danny was sitting in the driver's seat, with the dim light of the car on, looking quite scared. Frances was next to him, staring into nothingness. I could barely see her. Tom and Harry had managed to fall asleep in the back.

"I don't know what I'll say to Mike's parents" Luke suddenly said in a whisper.

Ironic, I didn't know what to say to him right there, right there. It was still hard to assimilate that Mike had actually died.

"I mean..." he went on in the same dead voice "I think I should be the one to tell them. Frances obviously won't be able to handle it and, well... I was the closest to his family"

I took a deep breath and thought of something suitable for the occasion, any words of consolation, but I couldn't think of any.

"Maybe we should just go to the police and you should let them tell his family" I said after a moment.

"No" he said "I- I should be the one to tell them... I just wish I didn't have to"

I swallowed.

"So do I. We all do"

"Do you think Frances will ever get over it?" he said.

"I dont think _any_ of us will ever get over this"

"But... I mean... She _saw_ him die. At times I think I would have wanted to be able to say goodbye to him, but... Would I have been able to handle it without losing it?" his voice break.

"Don't do that to yourself, just... Try not to think about it"

He nodded, but it made no sense at all what I'd just said; it was obvious none of us was able to think about _anything_ else.

And this was going to be such a huge trauma. I mean, Katie already had this phobia, now was she _ever_ going to be able to get over it? If there had been ever hope that she might, could that still happen? Was she going to have this persistent, abnormal fear of the rest of her life?

_What a life_.

I didn't dare to try to look at him in the eyes, my pain was enough, I couldn't deal with his too that night. So I kept my eyes locked in Danny. Fran had turned and was talking to him, it seemed that she was crying. Again. Tom moved; the conversation was turning louder, it seemed, but I still couldn't hear a thing. Suddenly Danny moved forwards and grabbed Frances' arms.

"What's he doing?" Luke asked.

"I don't know" I said, and moved fowards. Kate moved and moaned, and I feared I'd woken her up.

Suddenly Frances, crying, pushed Danny, opened the car's door and rushes out of the car.

"What the-" Luke hurried out the car, as well as Danny.

Frances was surprisingly fast!

I froze; what should I do!

All the crying and yelling had woken up Tom and Harry. They looked at the our car for a moment, hesitating, then hurried after our friends.

"Wait!" I yelled as I got out of the car.

Even though eveything was extremelly dark, I could see Danny rushing after Frances. He managed to grab her wrist but she punched him in the nose and he felt backwards.

"FRANCES, COME BACK!" Luke desperately yelled as he ran after her.

"DOUGIE!" I heard an hysterical Kate cry. I turned around, my heart pounding against my chest. "Don't leave us!"

"What's happening!" Jazzie yelled in panic and the two girls ran towards me.

"Dougie, HURRY UP!" Harry yelled. Tom looked very confused next to him.

"I don't want to leave the car!" Katie cried, a thousand tears running down her face.

There was no time for talking, no time for explanations, although it destroyed me to see her and my sister like that. I took their hands and forced them to run by my side.

"We have to catch up with them!" Harry yelled and didn't wait for us to get to them, but hurried to help Danny. He forced him up and we all rushed toward the trees.

"Are you insane?" Kate said, her eyes wild with terror "We can't go into the trees!" She tried to back off but I pushed her forwards.

"I'm sorry, but we can't be left alone!" I said and made her go on. I hated forcing her to do this.

"Luke!" Jazzie shouted despetarely "LUKE!"

But both him and Frances were nowhere to be seen.

"Dammit, DAMMIT!" Harry said and his hands flew to his head "We lost them!"

"What should we do now?" Tom said "I can't find them until daylight"

Kate felt on her knees on the ground and covered her eyes with her hands.

"Let me here, I want to die, I can't go on like this" she cried.

"Please, don't say that" I knelt next to her and took her in my arms.

"We have to go on" Harry said as he looked around, though there was no way we could see a damn thing; we could barely see each other! "NOW!"

Jazzie jumped back scared. Harry took her hand and started running again. I pushed Kate up by her arms and luckyly she did nothing to stop me.

"Where are you going?" Tom asked as he followed him, Danny following him closely. It seemed that nobody wanted to be the last one running in the line.

"Away, simply away" Harry said, sounding exhausted.

We ran and ran, and all of us tripped a hundred time, until it was too much and Jazzie didn't stand up after falling.

"Sis, come on, stand up" I told her.

"I can't" she gasped.

"Sis, please" I tried to encourage his.

"I can't -" Kate gasped next to me "I can't either."

She felt to the floor on her knees and gasped for a air several. Danny rested against a tree and put a hand over his chest.

"Jesus" he gasped "This is the furthest I've ever run"

"Will we be safe here?" I said.

"Nowhere is safe" Harry said.

We were in silence for a moment. I heard a bird sing; good, that meant the sun had to rise soon.

"What- what about Luke?" Jazzie said "And Frances? Aren't we going to go back for them?"

"Where exactly is _back_?" Harry said "We have no idea where the fuck we are, how are we supposed to go _back_ for them?"

"There's no need to talk to her like that" I said, trying to hide my annoyance. He looked at me for a moment, then took a deep breath.

"You're right, I'm sorry" he said, and then... Did he _sob_? "I'm just trying to keep us safe"

Kate was unsually quiet, it kind of worried me. I sat next to her on the dirty ground and put an arm around her.

"How are you feeling?" I whispered in her ear. She didn't answer. "Can I ask you something?"

She looked up at me and nodded. She looked so tired I was afraid she may faint.

"Promise me you'll give your best to get out of here." my voice trembled for a moment as I remembered what she'd said before "_Promise_ me you won't give up."

She took a deep breath, like she deeply did not want to promise me this. A fer seconds later, as endless tears ran down her dirty, pink cheeks, she nodded once again.

Then I leaned down and kissed her. I gave a fuck if the others were surprised, what they thought, even what_ she_ thought, I just felt like kissing her and nobody knew if I was going to be able to do that again.

When I pulled away, there was a moment of silence. Nobody made a comment about us.

"We need a plan or something" Danny said. He made a noise sound with his nose and now that there was slightly more light, I could see his neck covered with blood from his nose. That had to hurt.

"Like what?" Jazzie said.

"Maybe we should form smaller groups" he said "They expect us to be all together"

"That's suicidal" Harry said.

"We have a bigger chance like that" he said and looked at me "I mean, Dougie... Kate and Jazzie could be a group and leave, run away. We could be another group and stay behind..."

Jazzie stood up "What do you mean...?" she said, sounding angryly "Like.. _Bait_?" she said, raising her tone in the last word, in horror.

I looked at Danny without saying a word.

"No!" she said with a crazy look "Shut up! Don't even _think_ about it!"

"She's right" Kate said "We're not sacrificing anybody's life"

"What am I supposed to tell mum?" Jazz said hysterycally "That I left you to die to safe myself? No way, I'm _not_ leaving you" She sobbed and looked at me reprovingly. I stood up and put my arms around her.

"Relax, ok? It was just an idea..."

"A stupid idea" Kate said.

"Well, all we can do then is stick together and try to quietly find our friends, then try to get the further we can from here." Harry said.

"And food" Tom moaned.

I looked at all of them, afraid it could be the last time. That was it, we had no protection anymore.

It was then when I really had to step up, be a man and protect the people I love.


End file.
